Suction cleaning appliance



Oct.- 11, 1960 Filed Aug. 8, 1958 lll' D. C. KRAMMES SUCTION CLEANING APPLIANCE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 11, 1960 o. c. KRAMMES SUCTION CLEANING APPLIANCE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1958 Oct. 11, 1960 D. c. KRAMMES SUCTION CLEANING APPLIANCE 3 Sheets-Sheet 35 Filed Aug. 8, 1958 atentjOfi'jice 2,955,674 Patented Oct; 11, 1960 SUCTION CLEANING APPLIANCE Don C. Krammes, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 754,035

15 Claims. (Cl. 183-93) The present invention relates to a unitary suction cleaning appliance which may be moved onto a floor to be cleaned to first dispense a detergent solution onto the floor, spread it about and scrub the floor and then be used to dry the floor by sucking up the dirty water by means of a suction. The appliance includes a container for dispensing the detergent solution and a container for collecting and storing dirty Water.

The general arrangement of such an appliance is disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 754,093 filed concurrently herewith. The aforementioned appliance includes a triple purpose nozzle, a motor-fan unit for drawing a suction on the nozzle, a first suction line leading from the nozzle to a water separator and a second suction line leading from the water separator to the suction side of the motor-fan unit which is positioned above and to the rear of the nozzle.

During the drying or dirty water pick-up operation a suction is applied at the nozzle and the dirty water thereby sucked up into the nozzle by the moving air stream. The dirty water is carried along by the moving air stream throughthe first suction line and into a water separator casing where the dirty water is separated from the moving air stream, which then continues in a dry condition to the suction side of the motor-fan unit by way ofthe second suction line.

The dirty Water separated from the moving air stream 7 rator and non-return arrangement and to the detailed construction of each.

According to the present invention, the separator chamber is. provided with a. vertical wall extending upwardly from its bottom walladjacent the rear, and to one side of the. chamber to form a segmental shaped upwardly extending pocket. to. therear and to the right side or the interior of. the chamber.

The segmental shaped pocket is closed at its top and open at its bottom immediately above the open. upper end of the dirty water bag when the parts are in assernbled relationship.

At its left side the non-return vessel is provided with an upwardly and rearwardl'y inclined baffle to form a triangular shaped pocket which is closed at its topand bottom. At its inner side the triangular pocket com- 'municateswiththe: interior'of the chamber by means of a triangular opening defined by the inner'edge of the baffle, the bottom; wall of the chamber and by the inner edge of: the. vertically extending wall which fiorms side the triangular pocket is in direct communication the. segmental vertically extending pocket. At its inner i with the vertically extending segmental pocket, the inner edge of the vertical wall of which forms the inner wall of the segmental, pocket forming the dividing wall between the two openings.

The foregoing provides a pressure differential arrangement by which the appliance may be placed'on its back or on either of its sides and in which no dirty water can back flow from the dirty water receptacle into the interior of the separator chamber.

When the appliance is placed on its back the segmental pocket and a portion of the triangular pocket will contain dirty water but the water level will not rise above the edge of the vertical Wall which separates the triangular opening to the interior of thevessel from the segmental pocket.

When the appliance is turned on its side with the triangular pocket downwards, that pocket will contain dirty water but the water level therein cannot rise above the edge of the same vertical wall which divides a triangular opening to the interior of the vessel from the segmental pocket.

When the appliance is laid on its side with the segmental pocket downwardly that pocket will contain dirty water but its level cannot rise above the edgeof the same vertical wall which separates the triangular opening to the interior of the vessel from the segmental pocket.

Thus in each case it is the inner edge of the vertical wall which forms the segmental pocket and which separates the opening to the interior of the vessel from the opening between the two pockets which forms the maximum heights that dirty water may rise into the pockets, whether the appliance is laid on its back or on either of its, sides. 7 1 According to the present invention the'separator container is molded as upper and lower moldings or'vessels which are cemented together in use with the separator bafiles in the upper vessel and the non-return arrangement, in the lower vessel.

At its rear the lower molding is formed with left and right hand bores for receiving the upper ends of pipes which form a part of the two suction lines. In looking at the device from the front the left hand bore receives the upper end of the. suction line leading from the nozzle and the right hand bore receives the upper end of the suction line leading to the suction side of the motor-fan unit. The two bores are extended upwardly and comm-unicate at their upper ends with passages formed in the rear of the upper molding and which open into the interior of the separator chamber adjacent its upper end.

The two moldings together have a central through passage for receiving the handle of the appliance and which does not communicate with the interior of the separator chamber.

The interior of the upper vessel is divided into two side chambers: by a partition which extends from, front to rear and downwardly to the dividing line between the two vessels. Looking at the device from the front the left hand side forms the entrance for moisture laden air and the right hand side provides for the exit of dry air.

The right hand compartment at its rear and somewhat above. the bottom of the separator molding is provided with an inclined. baffie which prevents air from the rear from moving straight upwardly to the outlet which is positioned. above the bafile, while at the front end there .is av free. passage for air upwardly in the right hand side. The baffleis inclined so that any moisture collecting on its bottom'surface will drip backwardly into the lower vessel- At the front where the flow of air upwardly is unimpeded by bafiles on the right hand side, the left hand side is provided with an inclined bafiie which extends from about the center of the partition to a point about midway of the width of the left hand chamber. This baflle is spaced from the central partition at its forward end and prevents water droplets from collecting on the forward end of the central partition and being carried by the moving air stream across its lower edge into the right hand chamber. Instead the water droplets collect on the baffle and drip off its lower edge into the bottom of the lower vessel without being carried away by the moving air stream.

The interior walls of the vessels are ribbed in order to better remove the moisture and water droplets from the moving air stream by minimizing swirling.

At their forward ends both the left and right hand chambers have top openings which are adapted to be closed by a movable lid when suction is being applied to the nozzle in the manner disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 753,900 filed c'oncurrently herewith.

Other objects anl advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a miniature side view of the appliance to which the present invention is applied,

Fig. 2 is an exploded phantom perspective view of the separator vessel of the present invention, with certain Walls being broken away to better show the interior construction,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the device of the present invention and showing the water level relationship between the dirty water bag and the separator casing when the appliance is laid on its back,

Fig. 4 is a view looking at the bottom of the nonreturn vessel and showing the water level relationship with the appliance lying on its left hand side, and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the water level relationship with the appliance lying on its right side.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings the appliance to which the present invention relates comprises a suction nozzle provided with a scrubbing brush 11, a motor-fan unit within casing 12, a combined detergent dispensing and dirty water storing tank 13, a separator casing generally indicated by the reference numeral 14, a propelling handle and retractible wheels 16.

The nozzle 10 is connected to the interior of vessel 14 by one section 17 of a suction conduit system. The other section 18, Fig. 2 of the suction conduit system, extends between the interior of the vessel 14 to the suction side of the motor-fan unit which is housed within the housing 12.

The tank 13 includes an outer casing 19 (Fig. 3) for receiving detergent solution and an inner flexible bag 20 for receiving dirty water. The bag 20 is provided witha resilient support 21 including an annular flange 22 which is held in sealing engagement between the shoulder 23 and the bottom face of vessel 14 by means of a clamp 24 (Fig. 1).

Detergent solution is adapted to be dispensed from casing 19 and suction applied to the nozzle 10 by a control lever 25 in a manner disclosed and claimed in my aforementioned co-pending application, Serial No. 753,900. The appliance is supplied with electricity by the usual electric cord 26 and the motor-fan unit is energized and de-energized by the switch 27.

As shown in Fig. 2 vessel 14 is shown separated into two parts which are molded separately and then cemented together to form the vessel 14 which performs the combined function of separating the dirty water from the air stream and for preventing the back flow of dirty water from the dirty water bag 20 into the vessel 14 when the appliance is laid on its back or on either of its sides.

In Fig. 2 the upper vessel is generally indicated by the reference numeral 28 and the lower vessel by the numeral 29. The upper edge of vessel 29 is formed with an annular recessed shoulder 30 to receive the annular projection 31 (Fig. 3) on the lower end of vessel 28 so as to position the two vessels in proper relationship as they are assembled.

At its rear the vessel 29 is provided with left and right hand bores 32 and 33 for receiving the upper ends of suction conduit sections 17 and 18 respectively. The left and right hand passages 34 and 35 extend upwardly from the bores 32 and 33 and merge with left and right hand passages 36 and 37 formed in vessel 28. The passages 36 and 37 are closed at their upper ends and open into the interior chamber 38 of vessel 28 by way of left and right hand openings 39 and 40. The wall of passage 36 is partially formed by an extension 41 molded integrally with the vessel 29 which fits in channels 42 formed in the molding 28.

The vessel 29 is formed with a through passage 43 which coacts with a through passage 44 in vessel 28 to receive the handle 15.

At the right hand side of vessel 29, as viewed in Fig. 2, a vertically extending wall 45 separates the interior of chamber 46 of vessel 29 from a vertically extending segmental pocket 47 which is closed at its upper end and is provided with an opening 48 (Fig. 3) which opens into the dirty water bag 20 when the parts are assembled.

At the left hand side of vessel 29, an inclined baffle 49 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the bottom 50 of vessel 29 to its rear wall to form a triangular pocket 51 which is closed both at its top and bottom as shown. The triangular pocket 51 is open to the interior 46 of vessel 29 by way of a triangular opening 52 and is open to the pocket 47 by way of an opening 53. The two openings 52 and 53 are separated by the vertical edge 54 of wall 45 and as will appear, it is that edge 54 which determines the water level in the pockets whether the appliance is laid on its back or on either of its sides. Thus water which collects in chamber 46 can flow to the left across the bottom 50 and through opening 52 into the pocket 51, thence rearwardly in pocket 51 and then to the right through opening 53 and be discharged into the dirty water bag 20 through the opening 48.

The interior 38 of vessel 28 is divided into left and right hand chambers 55 and 56 by means of a dividing wall 57 which extends downwardly to the lower edge of vessel 28 so that chambers 55 and 56 merge with the interior 46 of vessel 29 so that the chamber 46 forms a part of the water separator.

In the left hand chamber 55 a baflie 58 extends diagonally from adjacent the fore and aft mid point of wall 57 to the front periphery of chamber 55 as shown so that the baflie 58 will be spaced from partition 57 at their forward ends. The bafile 58 also extends downwardly to the bottom edge of vessel 28 and as will appear will prevent or minimize the formation of water droplets on the bottom edge of partition 57 and prevent their entrainment in the dry air stream.

Immediately below the outlet opening 40, the right hand chamber 56 is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined baflle 59 which extends forwardly to adjacent the mid-point of chamber 56. This prevents the air from passing beneath the rear lower edge of the partition-57 flowing upwardly directly to the outlet opening 40. The baffle 59 is sloped downwardly toward the front of the vessel 14 so that the water droplets formed on it will drop from its forward end.

The interior vessel 29 is ribbed as shown at 60 to aid in the separation of water from the moving air stream by minimizing swirling.

Openings 61 are formed in the top of vessel 28 to vent the suction to atmosphere when the appliance is not being used for drying the floor. The openings 61 are adapted to be closed by the lid 62 (Fig. 1) when the appliance is converted for water pick-up purposes by operation of The appliance is intended to be used with the motorfan unit in operation at all times which is accomplished by actuating the switch 27 toits on position. For water pick-up purposes the lever 25 is actuated to move the lid 62 downwardly to close openings 61 and thereby apply the suction to the nozzle 10.

The wheels 16 may then be retracted so that the weight of .the appliance is carried by the brush 11 and the ap pliance moved about over the floor to be dried. The suction applied at the nozzle will suck updirty water from the floor and the air and dirty water will pass by suction line 17 and passages 34 and 36 into the left hand chamber 55 of vessel 28 by way of inlet opening 39., The wet air will move forwardly in chamber 55 and impinge against baffle 58 Where dirty water will be separated and drip from the lower edge of baflle 58 onto the bottom 50 of vessel 29. The fact. that the lower edge of bafile 58 is spaced from the lower edge of partition 57 prevents water droplets from forming on the lower edge of partition 57 and being carried away in the dry air stream.

The wet air will also impinge upon the ribbed interior of the vessels and further dirty water will be separated from the moving air stream. As shown by the arrows the moving air stream will pass from chamber 55 into chamber 56 by passing beneath the lower edge ofpartition 57 intochamber 46 of the vessel 29. Some of that air will contact the lower surface of baffle 59 where further dirty water will be separated. Water droplets which form on both the upper and lower surface of baflie 59 will drop from its forward lower edge onto the bottom 50 of vessel 29.

The comparatively dry air will then exit from the right hand outlet opening 40 and pass by right hand passages 37' and 35 and suction line section 18 to the suction side of the motor-fan unit where it will be placed under pressure and discharged to atmosphere through suitable louvers in the casing 12.

The dirty water which collects in the bottom 50 of the vessel 29 will flow through triangular opening 52. into; the. pocket 51 and from the pocket 51 into the pocket 47 and drip downwardly through opening 48 into the dirty water bag 20 (Fig. 3). V

Should the operator lay the appliance on its back as shown in Fig. 3', the water in the. dirty water bag 20 cannot flood the Vessel 14. The water will fill pocket 47 and the lower part of pocket 51 but cannot rise above. the edge 54 of wall 45.

The operation is similar to that. of the well known chicken watering device in which different levels are maintained in the storage tank and trough.

The action is caused by a pressure dilferential between the .interior of the chamber in which the bag 20 is positioned and the interior 46 of vessel 29. When the appliance is not in operation the interior 46 of vessel 29 will be at-atmospheric pressure. The interior of casing 19 being sealed, there will be a vacuum produced therein should there be an attempt to pour water through opening 48. Thus the atmospheric air pressure on top of the water in pockets 47 and 51 prevent the water from rising above the edge 54 of wall 45.

Figs. 4 and 5 are views looking at the bottom of the vessel 29 and the dirty water bag is not visible, being positioned upwardly from the surface of the paper so that the water would be pressing against the outside of bottom 50 of vessel 29.

Should the operator place the appliance on its left hand side as in Fig. 4 the dirty water in the bag may be at the level shown by dot-dash line 63 but the water level in the pocket 51 cannot rise above the edge 54 of wall 45 because of the atmospheric pressure on top of the water at the opening 52.

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7 Should the operator place the appliance on its right hand side as in Fig. 5 the water level in the bag 20 may be at the level shown by the dot-dash line 64 but the water level in the pocket 47 cannot rise above the edge 54 of the wall 45 because of the atmospheric pressure on top of the water at the opening 53 between the two pockets 47 and 51.

v Thus in each case it is the edge 54, of wall 45 which determines the height to which the water will rise. in the pockets 47 or 51 and which prevents the dirty water from flowing into the interior of the vessel 14. Should the appliance accidentally be placed on its front, flooding of the water separator vessel will not take place because the water level cannot rise. high enough.

Where the term detergent solution is used herein it is meant to include any cleaning liquid including plain water. Where the term dirty water is used herein it is meant to mean dirty cleaning liquid whatever it may be.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the present invention provides an efi'icient water separator for a water. pick-upappliance in which the dirty water is stored in a receptacle immediately below the separator and in which it is impossible to flood the separator by Water from the storage receptacle whether the appliance is laid on its back or on either of its side positions even through. the level of water in the storage receptacle be above. the separator when the appliance is placed in those positions.

While I have shown and described but a single embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that that embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited. to the specific structure shown and. described but wish to include all equivalent variations thereof except as. limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1.. In a suction water pick-up appliance, .rneans form? ing a sealed dirty water chamber and a water separator chamber arranged in end to end relationship to each other with said storage chamber positioned below said separator chamber in normal use of said appliance but subject to being placed in a position in which said chambers are horizontally aligned with each other when said appliance is not in use, air inlet and. outlet openings formed in the upper portion of said separator chamber, an opening formed in the bottom of said separator chamber and communicating with the interior thereof for draining water from the interior of said separator chamber into said storage chamber during use of said appliance and pressure differential bafiie means positioned between said bottom opening and the interior of said separator chamber arranged to freely permit the flow of water from the interior of said separator chamber into said storage chamber when the latter is positioned below the former and to prevent back flow of water from said storage chamber into the interior of said separator chamber when said chambers are horizontally aligned with each other even though the water level in said storage chamber is above said bottom opening.

2. In an appliance according to claim 1 in which the interior of said separator chamber is open to atmosphere when said appliance is not in operation and said pressure d-ifierential baflie means utilizes the atmospheric pressure within said separator chamber to prevent back flow of water thereinto when said chambers are in horizontal alignment.

3. In an appliance according to claim 1 in which said chambers are mounted in an inclined position on top of the supporting framework forming part of said appliance when said appliance is in its normal position of use and in which said bottom opening is formed in the rear lower wall of said separator chamber.

4. In an appliance according to claim 3 in which said storage and separator chambers are in the form of separate casings and said storage casing is in the form of an open ended container detachably mounted on the frame acumen 7 work of said appliance with its open end clamped in sealing engagement with the bottom of said separator casing. r

5. In an appliance according to claim 3 in which said separator chamber is formed of two separately molded superposed vessels interlocked together in open communication with each other with said bottom opening and pressure differential baflie means formed in the lower one of said'vessels and water separating baflle means formed in the upper of said vessels below said inlet and outlet openings, the arrangement being such that water separated in the upper of said vessels drops downwardly into the lower of said vessels.

6. In an appliance according to claim 5 in which the upper of said vessels is provided with a downwardly and forwardly inclined top wall and is divided into left and right hand compartments in communication with said inlet and outlet openings respectively by a vertical partition extending downwardly between said inlet and outlet openings to the upper edge of the lower of said vessels.

7. In an appliance according to claim 6 in which said water separating bafile means includes a vertical wall in said left hand chamber of the same height as said partition extending forwardly from said partition at a point rearwardly of the center thereof to the peripheral wall of the upper of said vessels at a point spaced to the left of said partition and a forwardly and downwardly inclined bafile in said right hand chamber extending from a point about midway of the height of the rear wall of said right hand chamber below said outlet opening and terminating at a point above the lower edge of the upper of said vessels and forwardly of the starting point of the vertical wall in said left hand chamber.

8. In an appliance according to claim 7 in which the supporting framework of said appliance includes two suction conduit sections, in which the lower of said vessels is provided with left and right hand bores to the rear of the water separation chamber proper receiving the upper ends of said conduit sections, said bores being extended upwardly into the upper of said vessels so as to communicate with the interior of the upper of said vessels at points on opposite sides of said partition and adjacent the upper wall of said upper vessel, above the baffle in said right hand chamber.

9. In an appliance according to claim 8 in which said upper and lower vessels are provided with a vertically extending through passage between said bores for receiving the handle of said appliance.

10. In an appliance according to claim 3 in which the framework of said appliance includes two suction conduit sections and the means which forms said separator chamber is provided with left and right hand bores to the rear of said separator chamber receiving the upper ends of said conduit sections, said bores being extended so as to communicate with said inlet and outlet openings.

11. In an'appliance according to claim 10 in which the means which forms said separator chamber is formed with a through passage between said bores for receiving the handle of said appliance.

12. In an appliance according to claim 3 in which said separator chamber is provided with a top opening and a lid mounted on a handle forming part of said appliance for opening and closing said top opening.

l3. In an appliance according to claim 3 in which said bottom opening and said pressure differential bafiie means includes first and secondwinclined juxtaposed pockets formed in the rear of the bottom of said separator chamber; said bottom opening being formed in a wall of said first pocket at the rear-of said separator chamber and communicating with said storage chamber; said second pocket being closed at its top and bottom and provided with juxtaposed side openings separated by the edge of a vertically extending wall which separates said first pocket from the interior of said separator chamber; one of said side openings communicating with the interior of said separator chamber and the other communicating with said first pocket whereby in the normal operating position of said appliance Water may flow from the interior of said separator chamber into said second pocket, from said second pocket into said first pocket and from said first pocket into said storage chamber.

14. In an appliance according to claim 13 in which said storage chamber is normally sealed from the atmosphere and said separator chamber is open to atmosphere when said appliance is not in operation and in which said vertically extending wall is so positioned relative to the interior of said separator that atmospheric pressure will prevent the back flow of water from said storage chamber into said separator chamber when said appliance is positioned horizontally with its back side downward.

15. In an appliance according to claim 14 in which said vertically extending wall is also so positioned that the atmospheric pressure in said separator chamber will prevent the back flow of water into said separator chamber when said appliance is positioned horizontally with either of its sides downward.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

